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The Exclusion of the African Contribution to the Conceptual Development of Reality, Appearance and Knowledge in the History of Philosophy

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The Exclusion of the African Contribution to the Conceptual Development of Reality, Appearance and Knowledge in the History of Philosophy THE EXCLUSION OF THE AFRICAN CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF REALITY, APPEARANCE AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY BY Andrea T. Chimuka; B. A. General, B.A. (SPL), M.A (Zimbabwe) Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy Supervisors: Dr. D. Kaulemu Dr. J. D. McClymont University of Zimbabwe 15 September 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………………… i Abstract …………………………………………………………………… iv Introduction….……………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter One: A Watershed of Perspectives 8 1.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………..... 8 1.2 Even African Philosophical Ideas are Part of the History of Ideas …. 10 1.3 History Of Philosophy..………………………………………….......... 14 1.4 History of African Philosophy………………………………................ 25 1.5. The Sponge-Effect Of Early European Intellectuals In Africa ............ 30 1.6 European Modernity And The Cognitive Erasure Of Africans ............ 31 1.7 Africa’s Vain Intellectual Input …………………………………....... 33 1.8 A Ray Of Light On The African Horizon ………………………....... 37 1.9 Conclusion ………………………………………………………......... 39 Chapter Two: The Limping Stallion - The Troubled Historiography Of African Philosophy 41 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………….. .... 41 2.2 The Nature of African Historiography ………………………….......... 41 2.3 Un-Gagging The African Mouth ……………………………….......... 47 2.3.1 The Post-Modern Critique of European Modernity …………............. 52 2.3.2 Feminist Critique of European Modernity ………………….............. 56 2.3.3 Post-Colonial Critique of Modernity ………………………................ 59 2.3.4 Sub-Altern Critique of Modernity…………………………….............. 60 2.4 Colonial Historiography of Africa ………………………… ................ 62 2.5 Conclusion ……………………………………………….................... 72 Chapter Three: The Natural Universe Is Divine 74 3.1 Introduction ………………………………………………................. 74 3.2 The Classical Civilization ………………………………… ............... 75 3.3 The Historiography of Greek Philosophy ……………….................... 76 3.4 The Intellectual Revolution in Philosophy ……………...................... 85 3.5 The Few Who Made Revolutionary Strides in Philosophy.................... 94 3.6 From Socrates To Aristotle ……………………………….................. 106 3.7 Greek Philosophy After Aristotle …………………………................ 110 3.8 Conclusion ………………………………………………................... 117 Chapter Four: God -The Ontological Reality And Author Of Knowledge 120 4.1 Introduction ………………………………………………................. 120 4.2 Africa Interfaces With Rome ......................…………………............ 121 4.3 Each Individual is Endowed With Self-Knowledge…........................... 126 4.4 Everything Flows from God And Back to Him…………………......... 134 4.5 Truth Lies Hidden Within the Soul ....................................................... 136 4.6 Nature is the Sum of Realty …………………….................................. 140 4.7 God: The Very Nature of Being …………………………................... 149 4.8 Everything is Fraught With Inconsistenies ............................................ 151 4.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 154 Chapter Five: Knowledge of The Nature, A Matter Of Impersonal Scientific Investigation 156 5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………….................. 156 5.2 Historiography Of Modern Philosophy................................................. 157 5.3 Revolutions In Science ………………………………........................ 168 5.4 European Modernity and the Condemnation of Africans........................ 170 5.5 Modern Philosophy and the New World Order ..................................... 173 5.6 Kant at the Summit of Enlightenment Thought ..................................... 190 5.7 Philosophy And Science In Alliance? ................................................... 196 5.8 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 200 Chapter Six: “The Ship With Multiple Rudders And Numerous Navigators” 203 6.1 Introduction ……………………………………………..................... 203 6.2 Crises In Newtonian Science ………………………………………… 206 6.3 The Critique Of Science …………………………………………….. 208 6.4 The Crisis Of Mathematics …………………………………………. 213 6.5 Implications of the New Science……………………………………… 214 6.6 Does Philosophy Mirror Nature? …………………………………….. 217 6.7 Conclusion …………………………………………………………… 227 Chapter Seven: Can Anything Valuable Come Out Of Africa? 230 7.1 Introduction …………………………………………......................... 230 7.2. African Presence in Intellectual Circles ............................................... 230 7.3. The African Philosophical Contribution .............................................. 232 7.3.1 A Pilgrimage to Freedom ..................................................................... 232 7.3.2 Afrocentrism Drawing from the Metaphysical Spring ......................... 236 7.3.3 African Conceptual Schema ................................................................. 240 7.3.3.1 Menkiti on the African View of Reality ................................................ 241 7.3.3.2 Ramose on the African View of Reality ............................................... 242 7.3.3.3 Brown on the African View of Reality ................................................. 244 7.4 Reflections on African Worldviews …………………………............ 247 7.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 247 8 Conclusion: The Future Of African World-Views ….................... 250 9. List Of Sources …………………………………………................ 255 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been possible without the help from my teachers and inspiration from students and friends. I would like to thank my students from the University of Zimbabwe, Arrupe College and St Thomas University of Mozambique for the various responses to ideas in this thesis. Over the years, the students have provided a form of measurement for the credibility or otherwise of some of the findings of this research. Sobantu (“Mpinji”) Sibanda and Munyaradzi Madambi, my fellow MA students (now colleagues) have always been my sparring partners. I would also like to thank the late Dr. Simon (“Simomo”) Mawondo for making thought provoking comments on some of the draft chapters. Special thanks go to my two teachers; Dr. Jameson Kurasha, Dr. David Kaulemu and friend Bill Shaw from San Jose State University (California, USA). Professor Shaw read the chapter drafts and gave valuable comments. Dr Kurasha encouraged me to push forward always, even during moments when I felt things were not moving at all! Dr. Kaulemu has mentored me throughout the storms and droughts of scholarship. He has taught me that a project such as this one requires one to settle for issues that preoccupy one’s life. For me, the role of Africans or Blacks in world civilizations is my passion - almost an obsession. Dr Kaulemu made me discover that. He has also gone over my draft chapters, ripping through some of them, suggesting how to improve others and sometimes providing materials from his own library. In particular, he introduced me to the works by J.A. Rogers. It was Rogers’ project to highlight to the world that Africans or men of colour played a significant role in i human civilization in general. In similar spirit, it has become my passion to examine how the philosophical insights of the peoples of African descent have fed the hearth of civilization. My other profound thanks go to Dr. J. D. McClymont, who took over as internal supervisor and saw the project through its final stages. He edited the dissertation and made valuable comments. I am very grateful. I would like also to thank the University of Zimbabwe, for funding my travel to Cape Town for my first contact visit in 2001. There, I met Karori Mbugua, then a DPhil student from Kenya. Our discussions in philosophy were very fruitful. He impressed on me that science was very instrumental to the rise of modern philosophy. In 2004 I went to Kenya for my second contact visit, where I engaged Dr. Karori Mbugua in philosophic discussions. This experience fostered my intellectual growth. Most importantly, I would like to thank the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy for facilitating my study leave for the part of 2004 and the rest of 2005. I wouldn’t have made it without the break. Special thanks go to all those scholars whose ideas I have used directly or indirectly to develop my own. My family has also made invaluable contributions to the completion of this work. There were nights I would literally not sleep, and days when I felt like not speaking to anybody. My family had their way of accommodating me and seeing us through these storms. It was difficult to have a husband and father who was a student. Yet, they were all very supportive. At times they would ask me when my studies would come to an end. This question, whenever asked, would spur me into working hard, though at ii times it made me angry. I would soliloquise; how do they expect me to finish when studying under these dire conditions? To my wife Ntombizodwa and the boys I say, “Thank you very much. You have always been there for me, even during times when I was not very friendly and most importantly, you have been the reason for my pushing forward, against all the odds, as they slapped hard into my face”. iii ABSTRACT Few histories of philosophy have probed the contributions of Africans or people of
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